Discussed is the idea that students come into their lessons with already preformed notions for many basic astronomical events. Examples of students' responses during an astronomy lesson are included. Suggestions for uncovering students' alternative frameworks are presented. (KR)

Discussed is a constructivist model of science learning and its possible use in the treatment of science misconceptions. Science learning as conceptual and methodological change is described. (KR)

Based on the premise that body experiences interfere inconveniently with scientific ideas in mechanics instruction. Suggests that learning processes start with body experiences and, with guidance, transform them into something scientific. Discusses this process for the static and kinetic aspects of force and for measurement. (MDH)

Argues that science students often perceive physical events, the nature of scientific knowledge, and the nature of learning processes in different ways from science teachers and scientists, and that science teachers need to account for these differences in planning their science teaching. Contains 40 references. (WRM)

Attempts to find connections and bridges between social constructivism and Piagetian constructivism so that both may be enriched, to the benefit of science teaching. (Contains 95 references.) (Author/WRM)

The aim of this research was to evaluate and analyse second-year industrial engineering and chemical engineering students prior knowledge of conceptual aspects of "circuit theory". Specifically, we focused on the basic concepts of electric potential and current intensity and on the fundamental relationship between them as expressed by Ohm's law.…

Working memory is where we "think" as we learn. A notion that emerges as a synthesis from several threads in the research literatures of cognition, motivation, and connectionism is that motivation in learning is the process whereby working memory resource allocation is instigated and sustained. This paper reviews much literature on motivation and…

Instructional metacognition refers both to conceptions of students about the contribution that instructional interventions can make to their learning, and to the impact of these conceptions on students' interpretation and use of instructional interventions. This study analyzes student conceptions of efficiency-related attributes of instructional…

A learning cycle consists of three phases: exploration; conceptual invention; and expansion of an idea. These phases parallel Piaget's functioning model of assimilation, disequilibrium and accommodation, and organization respectively. The learning cycle perceives students as actors rather than reactors to the environment. Inherent in that…

The project's purpose was to revise the introductory biology material in a freshman course for biology majors so that it is based on Piagetian learning theory and incorporates the three phases of the learning cycle teaching strategy: (1) exploration; (2) concept formation; and (3) concept application. The approach presented concepts structured so…

The impact on learning performance of a notetaking strategy called the Directed Overt Activity Strategy (DOA) was evaluated on three types of instructional tasks: spatial learning, simple concept learning, and complex concept learning. One hundred volunteer freshman psychology students from Ohio State University used either the DOA or their own…

Some science educators who are interested in conceptual development have considered the phenomenon of student misconceptions and alternative frameworks. Researchers have used a variety of terms to describe the situation in which students' ideas differ from those of a scientist about a particular concept. This digest was produced to briefly…

The paper suggests appropriate activities for teaching learning disabled fourth graders in a regular class the concepts of geographical latitude and longitude. Application of the learning principles identified in a review of the literature suggests the need to include visual, auditory, kinesthetic, and tactile activities of benefit to the entire…

Reported is a research project which investigated whether junior high students in the Ithaca, New York, area can acquire and use the "concept mapping" and "Gowin's 'V' mapping" strategies to facilitate meaningful learning. Concept mapping involves the identification, hierarchical organization, and graphic depiction of…

A model is proposed for memory that stresses a distinction between episodic memory for encoded personal experience and semantic memory for abstractors and generalizations. Basically, the model holds that questions influence the nature of memory representations formed during instruction, and that memory representation controls the way in which…